Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Cabin Fever Wednesday

I got a little too comfortable with our mid 80 temps we have been having for the past couple weeks. I should never be fooled into thinking warm temps are here to stay. The high today was 45 degrees with a dose of drizzle. Forecast tells the cold temps will be here for a couple of more days.

Needless to say Summer and I stayed inside ALL day long, something we have not been in the habit of for a while. Although we did keep ourselves busy inside, both of us were starting to get a hint of cabin fever by the late afternoon.

Here is Summer doing some computer work with Brandi giving her a hand...and staying warm from body heat..

We spent most of our day upstairs where it is much warmer. I had to go downstairs for some reason or another. When I came back up this is what jumped out from around the staircase....

Her vampire disguise did slightly startle me...I'm glad I didn't have a heart attack on her.

Very unfortunately we have gas heat here....which Toby and I both abhor. We had a problem heating the house last year because of our vaulted ceilings. The upstairs would be boiling hot, but downstairs would be freezing. Our maximum gas heating bill last year was $130...which to my frugal nature was OUTRAGEOUS.

I learned a little trick from last year and implemented it this year with excellent results. This may not work for someone in the colder climates, but our mild winters make it very possible for those with outrageous priced gas heat.

We bought one large space heater for the downstairs living area and two small ones...one for our bedroom and one for upstairs. I put my gas thermostat on 60 degrees at night..we don't use the space heaters at night...we just freeze through the night. Or should I say Toby and Summer do....my perimenopausal hormones these days make sleeping in sub-zero weather very comfy. :-)

When morning arrives I get up and turn on all of the space heaters. I then turn on the oven and open the door letting all the heat escape into the bottom half of the house. It doesn't take but about 30 min with the oven door open and the space heaters on before the house is nice and toasty.

After the house is warmed up, I turn off the oven and tada! The house is warmed up and the space heaters keep the house warm the rest of the day if needed. Most of the time it warms up enough during the day that we can turn off the heaters.

AND the best news is my gas AND electric bill together in the middle of winter only totalled to $130! I love saving money...that way there is more money left for the things I enjoy spending it on.

Anyway, my little chihuahua is always freezing. She literally camps out in front of the space heaters all day. She sits so close to them I am surprised her fur doesn't singe off.

Here we are heating our toes up....

For now, I am just sitting back patiently awaiting on the arrival of spring and enjoying the indoor time I get with my baby girl. :-)

DAILY INSPIRATION

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways- Chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other- body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!